- Joaquín Amaro
Infobox Military Person
name=Joaquín Amaro Domínguez
lived=August 16 1889 –March 15 1952
caption=
nickname="El Indio"
placeofbirth= Corrales de Abrego, Sombrerete,Zacatecas ,Mexico
placeofdeath=
allegiance=Mexico
branch=Mexican army
serviceyears=1911 – 1936
rank="General de división"
unit=
commands=
battles=Battle of Celaya ,Battle of Ocotlán
awards="Cruz de Segunda Clase"
relations=
laterwork=Secretary of War, Military reformer, Military educational reformer, PublisherJoaquín Amaro Domínguez (
August 16 ,1889 –March 15 ,1952 ) was a Mexican revolutionarygeneral and military reformer. He served as Secretary of War in the cabinets of PresidentsPlutarco Elías Calles ,Emilio Portes Gil , andPascual Ortiz Rubio , making him one of the longest-serving cabinet-level officials inMexican history . His ambitious reforms of the fractiousMexican military transformed the armed forces from a political partisan to an armed force loyal to the president and government. He accomplished this "through a process of cultural reeducation that replaced an entrenched tradition of militarism with one emphasizing such values as discipline, duty, honor, and loyalty to the civilian government."cite paper | author = Carriedo, Robert | title =The Man Who Tamed Mexico’s Tiger: General Joaquin Amaro And The Professionalization Of Mexico’s Revolutionary Army | version = | publisher =University of New Mexico | date =2005-05-01 | url = http://stinet.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA444102&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf | format = PDF | accessdate = 2007-07-05]Early life
Amaro was born in Corrales de Abrego in the municipality of Sombrerete,
Zacatecas , the first of Antonio Amaro and Angela Domínguez's ten children. His family was of indigenous ancestry, although they were probably notYaqui , as was widely assumed. While Amaro was still a child, the family moved to the nearby state ofDurango , where his father worked on anhacienda . He learned to read and write, although probably without the benefit of formal schooling. Beginning in 1908, he worked in the office of the Saucillo hacienda where his father was employed, assisting withbookkeeping . With two incomes, the family was able to enjoy a comfortable existence. In 1910, his father sold his possessions and gave the money to his eldest son, advising him, "go to Durango with your mother and siblings, work for Mr. Calderón [a local store-owner] , learn the business, get to know the town, and when you feel able, open your own store."Carriedo, p. 26] His father left forTorreón in November of that year, and although Amaro never saw him again, he read about his exploits with the revolutionary army of Colonel Luis Moya.Military career
Early Revolution
On February 28, 1911, Amaro enlisted in the Maderist army of General
Domingo Arrieta . Shortly after Amaro enlisted, his father was killed in battle. After five months as a private, he was promoted every subsequent month, attaining the rank oflieutenant by December.As part of the army of Colonel Gertrudis G. Sánchez, whose forces Arrieta's had joined, Amaro fought against the Zapatistas in Morelos, engaging them at least nineteen times. In one of these engagements, the battle of Jojutla de Juárez, he earned the "Cruz de Segunda Clase"," a heroism medal. From 1913 to 1914, he fought the federal troops under the command of
Victoriano Huerta , continuing all the while to rise in rank. By 1914 he had risen to the rank of general.It was under the command of General Sánchez that Amaro developed the reputation of a fierce warrior. It was rumored that he wore an earring and used the
battlecry "Here is the man of the pendant earring! Here is the Indian!" He also supposedly emulated the fighting style of the Yaqui people. He also developed the reputation of a harsh disciplinarian who occasionally used hisriding crop to mete out corporal punishments to his subordinates. He may have even shot men in his charge or employ for disobeying orders.Conventionalists v. Constitutionalists
After the fall of Huerta, while still under the command of Sánchez, he briefly supported the conventionalist government of
Eulalio Gutiérrez , before breaking with Sánchez to ally with the constitutionalist army ofVenustiano Carranza . Shortly after Sánchez and Amaro joined the Constitutionalists, Sánchez ordered Amaro to attack a column of troops commanded by GeneralFrancisco Murguía , who, while also a Constitutionalists, was a rival of Sánchez. While initially successful, Murguía's troops eventually prevailed, and Murguía sought to have Amaro executed fortreason , a charge he narrowly escaped. Rather than damaging the reputation of Amaro, however, the incident did more to isolate Sánchez, who Amaro abandoned. The split finally came in 1915, when Amaro advanced the troops under his command on the Villista "División del Norte", leaving Sánchez in Michoacán. By this time, he had already professed allegiance to GeneralÁlvaro Obregón and the carrancista government.In April 1915, he led his troops, known as the "Rayados" ("striped ones"—so-called because the only uniforms Obregón could provide were prison uniforms) to support Obregón's defeat of the villistas in the second
Battle of Celaya . Following the battle, Obregón named him "Comandante militar" ("military commander") of the 5th Division of the Army of the Northwest, and he was charged of ridding Michoacán of villista influence. At the end of 1915, the area under his command was expanded to include Guanajuato and Querétaro.In 1916, he again fought the zapatistas in Morelos and Guerrero. In 1917, he was placed under the command of Murguía, and led expeditions against the remaining villistas of Durango and Chihuahua.
Rebellion against Carranza
When Obregón proclaimed the
Plan of Agua Prieta against Carranza in 1920, Amaro remained loyal to Obregón, and was rewarded with the rank of "General de división", the highest military rank. He became chief military officer of the third military zone, which included the states of Coahuila, Nuevo León and San Luis Potosí. In this capacity, he undertook to professionalize the unorganized ranks under him, gaining experience that would later benefit his reorganization of the entire military.On September 3, 1921, while chief of operations of the third military zone, Amaro wed Elisa Izaguirre, originally of
Morelia, Michoacán . There the couple had two children, Joaquín and Leonor.He later became commander of the seventh military zone, which comprised Nuevo León. There he put down the July rebellion of Pablo González. When in 1922 political unrest threatened to destabilize Coahuila, Amaro positioned his troops to block the occupation of the state legislature and to protect the governor's palace. In 1923, he was sent to maintain order during Nuevo León's gubernatorial elections. Following a series of violent incidents, Amaro disarmed groups of rural fighters.
Amaro helped plan the assassination of Pancho Villa, who had pledged to support
Adolfo de la Huerta if the general rose against Obregón. He later helped freeJesús Salas Barraza , the leader of the group of assassins, from jail.Amaro's support for the assassination of Villa must not be understood as a betrayal of the Revolution; indeed, Amaro never wavered from his commitment to his interpretation of the Revolution:
I have fought without rest [...] against clericalism, large landowners, the militarism of the ex-Federals, the Spanish, and in general all those that do not contribute to theenrichment of our beloved homeland and the betterment of the workingclass.Carriedo, p. 46]
Delahuertist rebellion
In 1923, Amaro's chief of staff José Álvarez learned of the plot between generals Enrique Estrada, Guadalupe Sánchez, and Fortunato Maycotte to overthrow Obregón. Álvarez immediately returned to Nuevo León and informed Amaro of the plot, who promptly related the information to Obregón. The conspirators drafted Adolfo de la Huerta, then-Minister of Finance, to run for president against Plutarco Elias Calles, Obregón's chosen successor. Facing a rebellion with armies in the North, South, and East, Obregón relied on loyal generals such as Amaro to block rebel access to resources and the northern border and to put down the insurrection. Amaro, aided by General
Lázaro Cárdenas , battled Estrada's forces, defeating them in the decisive battle of Ocotlán. Three days after the battle, Amaro's troops occupied Guadalajara, where Estrada's operation had been based. The rebellion crushed, the 1924 Mexican election was carried out peacefully.Post-war career
Following the election of Calles, Amaro was appointed Undersecretary of War. Francisco Serrano having been sent to Europe on a diplomatic mission late in Obregón's presidency, the Secretariat was unfilled. Calles may have been waiting to secure the support of generals Eugenio Martínez and Arnulfo Gómez, who were also potential candidates for the post. While undersecretary, Amaro initiated a series of legal reforms to purge the armed forces of "the germ of immorality and corruption."Carriedo, p. 115] After an initial convention of important military figures, the Commission for Studies and Reforms of Military Laws and Regulations was formed. Ten months later, four new laws were promulgated.
Amaro's four laws
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